Last weekend the entire UVM group took a trip to La Milpa, a research station in the middle of a rainforest reserve that also oversees a Maya site that has yet to be excavated. The place was absolutely beautiful. When we first arrived we were greeted with a tropical shower while the sun was still shining and once the rain stopped, a group of splendidly colored Oscillated Turkeys and some white tailed deer meandered across the lawn. The whole scene was like something out of a Jehovah Witness pamphlet.
The accommodations were rather 'green'. Solar panels powered the entire station and there were composting toilets in the newest building, the whole eco-tourism shabang.
Silicon meets Thatch...
Walking through the Cohune Palm forests was like a trip to Lost World, the massive palm fronds looked prehistoric and the giant Mahogany trees were nothing short of epic. (So I staged this epic photo)
A chance to go bird watching could not be passed up, even if it was at 6am. I saw a bunch of beautiful and interesting species fluttering around. We had a few toucan sightings, which seemed to bring the most excitement. I am still working on collecting photos from those students with good optical zoom and I will get some on-line as soon as I do.
During the trip we got a chance to visit Las Milpas, a Maya site that has been reclaimed by the jungle and has been so far left in its natural state. The tree covered mounds were fantastic in scale and the mystery of them indescribable. The pictures do no justice to being surrounded by towering mounds of jungle and knowing that each one of those is a great limestone structure in what was a flat expanse of fields.
Howlers and Spider monkeys rule the area now. The black Howlers let out their incredible roar as our group approached while the spider monkeys opted to throw hard fruit at us, making the hike that much more interesting.
Needless to say, the entire trip was a great experience and it was neat to see an example of sustainable tourism at work.
1 comment:
Hey Shaun!
It's Matt. Looks like the trip is going great so far, like the pictures. You should send the last one of your boot to Timberland, could be the next ad they put out..."Our boots can even trudge through Belizean jungle". Anyway, I've only come up with a few more shirt ideas since you've been gone, and of course I've forgotten them haha. It's been snowing like mad here (my car is currently buried yet again) and the picture of the beach at Placencia made me quite jealous. Well, I hope everything keeps goin well and Monkey says hi!
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